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Pennsylvania
Bellefonte police probe tip on missing DA
BELLEFONTE -- Police are investigating a tip that a missing central Pennsylvania district attorney was murdered and dumped in a mine shaft.
Bellefonte police Detective Matthew Rickard said the tip regarding the 2005 disappearance of Centre County District Attorney Ray Gricar is being investigated and that the FBI was involved.
Gricar's name was linked to Pennsylvania State University's abuse scandal in 2011. In 1998, he decided not to charge Jerry Sandusky after the mother of one abuse victim complained to State College police.
Earlier this year, a judge declared Gricar dead at the request of Gricar's daughter.
Gricar's nephew said he takes the new claim with a grain of salt because there have been so many false leads over the years.
http://www.goerie.com/article/20130921/NEWS06/309219922/News-from-around-Pennsylvania
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Kansas
KU puts professor on administrative leave for tweet sent after Navy Yard massacre
by BRIAN BURNES and MARÁ ROSE WILLIAMS
The University of Kansas journalism professor who sent a tweet wishing violence on children of National Rifle Association members has been put on administrative leave.
David Guth's remarks, which had led NRA leaders to calls for his firing, were in response to Monday's shootings at the Washington Navy Yard that left 13 people dead.
University officials called his words “repugnant,” and on Friday Chancellor Bernadette Gray-Little said Guth would be put on leave.
“In order to prevent disruptions to the learning environment for students, the School of Journalism and the university, I have directed Provost Jeffrey Vitter to place Associate Professor Guth on indefinite administrative leave pending a review of the entire situation,” Gray-Little said in a statement.
Guth's classes will be taught by other faculty members.
The professor tweeted Monday that “blood is on the hands” of the National Rifle Association.
“Next time, let it be YOUR sons and daughters,” the tweet read. “Shame on you. May God damn you.”
On Thursday, Ann Brill, dean of the university's journalism school, said Guth's views “do not represent our school, and we do not advocate violence directed against any group or individuals.”
While the First Amendment allows anyone to express an opinion, Brill said, “that privilege is not absolute and must be balanced with the rights of others.”
Timothy C. Caboni, university vice chancellor for public affairs, called Guth's tweet “repugnant,” adding that it was “truly disgraceful that these views were expressed in such a callous and uncaring way.”
“We expect all members of the university community to engage in civil discourse and not make inflammatory and offensive comments,” he said.
In an email Thursday, Guth said the university had asked him not to do any more interviews and referred The Star to his personal blog. He wrote on the blog Monday that “I am angry, frustrated, sad and determined. The news of the senseless slaughter today at Washington's Navy Yard has me again questioning how we can let this madness continue.
“Frankly, I don't care if I am criticized for being too quick to judge, too harsh in my criticism or too strident in my tone.”
Various online sites picked up Guth's remarks, and the president of the Kansas State Rifle Association said Guth should be fired.
http://www.kansascity.com/2013/09/19/4494140/ku-rebukes-journalism-professor.html
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Minnesota
Duluth's community policing wins national recognition
by News Tribune staff
For the second straight year, the Duluth Police Department has earned recognition from an international organization.
The department was named a finalist for this year's Community Policing Award selected by the International Association of Chiefs of Police, the department announced Friday.
Duluth police were honored for their Blight and Nuisance Crime Project. Chief Gordon Ramsay said the project began in 2010 with a state grant that paid for a full-time community police officer and a full-time city attorney. Although the grant ended in 2012, the city has kept it going.
“We've sustained it because it's been so successful,” Ramsay said.
The project focuses on two patrol zones — one encompassing the Central Hillside and downtown, and the other the East Hillside, Ramsay said. The program has been particularly effective in dealing with habitual offenders, he said. It brings together police, court officials, probation officers, city attorneys, social service workers, public defenders, homeless outreach workers and others to focus on offenders who continually reoffend and consider how best to deal with them.
The group identifies resources to help indigent and chronic perpetrators of nuisance crimes to make reparations for those crimes.
In 2012, the department won the same award for efforts to improve its response to rapes of American Indian women and all victims of sexual assault.
“To be a winner last year and a finalist again this year is a testament to the good work that our people do and the innovative work that's done every day,” Ramsay said.
The award, officially named the IACP and Cisco Systems Community Policing Award, named four winners this year: police agencies from Mankato, Minn.; Abington Township, Pa.; Boise, Idaho; and Hamilton, Ontario, Canada.
Duluth police were joined as finalists by agencies from Vail, Colo.; Madison City, Ala.; St. Louis Park, Minn.; Grand Prairie, Texas; Dayton, Ohio; and Hong Kong.
Special recognition for homeland security went to the Colorado State Patrol.
http://www.duluthnewstribune.com/event/article/id/278473/group/news/
